The Diamond Mark
Jan Antonovics, Commercial Manager, Woodexperts
When I joined Woodexperts in 2008, I couldn’t imagine it would lead to the most exciting
chapter of my life, with incredible experiences.
My career in the DIY/merchant sector – where I ran National Accounts Sales, to such as
B&Q and Travis Perkins, with products including ladders and tools – had ended after 30
years: and so I jumped at the opportunity to work in a different sector, almost by chance: as
others in this series have said.
I had always done training: new starters, products and presentations on understanding what
I was selling. Now at Woodexperts, I’m involved in recruiting delegates for our qualifications
in Wood Science: and, having passed the Examination myself, I realise how important it is to
gain a much broader knowledge of our “wonder material”: Wood.
I also did inspections: climbing ladders on sites where the timber was called into question:
and I’ve been fortunate to travel the world in the past 17 years, visiting places like Hong
Kong, Grenada and the Maldives – no kidding!
My work also involves our Certification Mark: the Woodexperts “Diamond Mark” Scheme,
which certifies the quality of products like BS1088 Marine plywood or BS5534 tiling battens,
produced abroad. A few years ago, doing an audit in Riga, I walked across the frozen River
Daugava, iced to a depth of 1.5 metres: and later visited plywood mills in Indonesia, where
relaxing on a Bali beach marked the end of the working day!
I’ve two mantras, which I repeat, whenever appropriate:
“It’s never the fault of the wood…” – because this incredible material gets used in so many
areas and yet so few people understand it.
And: “Timber is the oldest building material known to Man. We’ll never run out of it: and you’ll
always have a job, working in the wood industry!”
